View full sizeThis photo provided by Jennifer Forker shows a medicinal indoor herb garden for healthful herbs throughout the winter months, from left, chocolate peppermint, and chamomile, and right, French thyme, sage, and lemon balm.Associated Press

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Our borough's resident groundhog assured us recently that spring is just around the corner. Nevermind the fact that it snowed a couple of days after that prognostication. Balmy breezes and kinder weather patterns surely are in the forecast.

You'll have to forgive me for rushing the seasons here. But the idea of a new season (and the idea of a warming sun) inspires me. And, spring can be such an exciting time that I often don't know which task to start first -- planning the garden, cleaning out the cupboards or stocking up on canned sardines for assorted March holidays. Well, you get the idea.

Let me start with the garden. Gardening magazines I am getting in the mail are incredibly tempting --- look at those bushy green "Cha Cha"chives and wispy fronds of Herkules Dill. Can I start growing them now in mid-February?

"Herbs aren't as easy in early spring since they require warmth and six to eight hours of bright light for active growth, explained Chelsey E. Fields, the Vegetable Product Manager at W. Atlee Burpee & Co. of Warminster, Pa.

Buy them in pots from the supermarket, she said, "And then keep them going on a bright south-southwest facing windowsill." Ms. Fields recommends lighting kits for growing herbs year round.

Weisner Brothers Nursery in Willowbrook sells the kits. They also stock trays set with peat moss compacted in pots, the contents of which can be plugged right into the ground.

""Put it in a sunny window or get grow lights, which we sell, and start them inside the house," advised Hans Weisner.

Don't sweat starting vegetables like beans before the growing season, said Weisner, noting, "They grow so fast, they start germinating rather quickly."

So, just plant them right in the ground. But wait until May to cultivate a successful garden.

"Although it looks like there's going to be an early spring, there can be a cold snap," Weisner warned.

In the meantime, prepare the ground after a few days of warm weather. Plot out the garden. Pick up the pots. Create raised beds using railroad ties.

As the ground thaws, Ms. Fields advises setting up a cold frame, an outdoor structure that "outlines the space and traps heat." It can be constructed from a kit, she said, or using something as simple as two-by-fours paired with cinder blocks covered in plastic.

"Containers can be turned into a cold frame as well, but the key here is keeping soil in the container above freezing," Ms. Fields said. Therefore, keep them out of the frigid wind and huddle them against a wall, pack straw over and under them to capture heat âand keep those veggie roots warm!"

"A cold frame allows gardeners in cold climates to grow spinach, lettuce, arugula, baby greens," Ms. Fields explained. "The best part about retro-fitting a raised bed as a cold frame is you can lift off the plastic come spring and grow a great summer crop of tomatoes, peppers, cukes -- whatever you want," she said.

CONTAINER GARDENING

"It's becoming more and more popular to do container gardening," Weisner observed. Start seedlings in the house right in their resident pots and, come May, place them outside.

You can bring a little bit of spring inside now, Weisner said, by growing non-edibles like paperwhites or cultivating amaryllis bulbs, snipping winter berry hollies and bringing in cherry tree or red twig dogwood branches from the yard. Keep them in the kitchen where it's warm and watch them bloom.

But steer clear of bringing branches from pear trees into the house, said Weisner, explaining that they have an unusual odor.

It will be at least another month before tender chives poke their purple flowers up from the ground. If the thought of waiting has got you down, Weisner suggests throwing a seed catalog party while you're plotting out your garden.

Good idea! I'll bring the chive spread.

TAIL: Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com.